Display

You don’t need special skills or loads of money but you do need to follow some simple rules to display collections effectively. By doing so, you will be surprised how you can breathe life into a dark corner or a dead area of your home.

Displaying your treasures well will add interest and individuality to your home. First you must decide what it is you want to put on display. You should exhibit items that are close to your heart – perhaps you have inherited some beautiful china, or you have collected silverware over many years. Here are some suggestions of ways you could display items in your home:

From http://www.grahamandgreen.co.uk/

• If arranging a small display of items always group things together in odd numbers and in different sizes. For example a round fat shaped teapot, with a small cup and saucer and a tall thin vase.

• Coloured glass looks best when displayed on window cills or near a natural light source as it sparkles to show its colours. Remember though that this also helps us to see any dirt or smudges on the pieces!
http://www.grahamandgreen.co.uk/

• If you have an odd number of identical items, place them at regular intervals along a shelf or coffee table to create a modern simple display.

• Display medium sized pieces at eye level, and small or large pieces below eye level. Very large pieces can look good placed on the floor, next to a fireplace perhaps.

• Leave enough space between pieces –don’t try to cram too much together in your display.

• If displaying lots of items on a long shelf think about balancing the display. Put the largest item at the centre, and try to group items symmetrically to each side.

• Pictures look best grouped together unless they are very large. Please see my separate tips sheet on displaying pictures.

• Don’t place tiny items individually on a shelf –they will always look better grouped together and placed on a table below eye level.

• If you are planning to buy new items to display in your room, think carefully about their size and colour in relation to the room. Small items will look lost in a very large room and will not make the impact you may be hoping to create. Equally very large items will take up too much space and appear over dominating.

I was catching up with my reading at the weekend and found an article from The Times newspaper title “Bed making the hotel way” I thought I would read on as many of my clients strive for the “hotel Bedroom Look” and any tips I could give them in order to achieve this would be great!

I quote directly from the article: “At centre stage is the bed. Sheets must be Egyptian cotton. Pillowcases should be in several shapes and sizes, while the duvet cover is not presentable unless draped in a throw and scatter cushions. Our new found love for dressing up what used to be a private part of the home, off limits to even the most prying dinner party guest, means that your bed linen thread count is now as eagerly scrutinised as celebrities’ red carpet dresses. Anything under 200 and you may not get an invite back!

Getting the look has become such and exacting job that John Lewis is now offering lessons on how to get it right. Over the next few weeks shoppers at the Oxford Street store will be treated to “hotel bed finishing” classes, Customers will be taken through the entire bed dressing process and learn to create the ultimately comfortable and luxurious bed.”

There then follows this advice from the visual merchandiser at the John Lewis store, who is in charge of bed making –“with a flat sheet you get a much smoother finish…..it may sound strange but you don’t get a proper fit with a fitted sheet. A flat sheet gives you that much tauter finish that is much more luxurious and comfortable. For best results use an oversize sheet with plenty of left over fabric to tuck under a hefty mattress. Start at one of the corners by the head of the bed and tuck the side of the sheet under like an envelope before doing the opposite side. Only then do you move to the foot of the bed. Give the linen a tug before tucking it in the middle and moving to the final two corners, Te real trick to this part wrestling part origami techniques is the economy of movement, one tuck one swoop under the corners is all it should take. Next the pillows. Start with two completely square pillows. These ones however are not for sleeping on. Think of them as base-line pillows, dress them up in a contrasting colour and props them up on the headboard. Layer on one plump pillow swathed in an Oxford pillowcase –the kind with the flaps around the sides, before adding a much flatter pillow in a plain housewife pillowcase.” The article then goes on with details on how to put on a duvet cover –it seems the best method is the inside out one –wash the cover inside out and then you can reach inside it, grasp the corners along with the corners of the duvet, and flip the cover on.

The article then goes on to say. “The rest is decoration. For the ultimate luxury a cashmere throw (£280) is hard to beat. Silk cushions complete the effect, but before you rush out and invest in half a dozen consider whether your other half shares your enthusiasm for them. Your bed may look glorious but there is nothing alluring about the sight of your partner chucking them on the floor in a huff.” If all this has inspired you in the bed making stakes then you could book a bed finishing class at John Lewis. Email events_oxford-street@johnlewis.co.uk If you think you could give this a miss but fancy some lovely cushions or a throw made especially to compliment your bedroom scheme why not give us a call at Design Focus! 01452 614087

Two elegant bed arrangements by John Lewis......

New delivery

I have just received a large parcel with some new wallpaper and fabric collections from Casadeco. These include some Bohemian style prints in really lovely colour ways including an embroidered cotton, a lovely velvet stripe that can be used both as a curtain fabric or for upholstery, a great floral cotton/linen, a really pretty small print fabric, and some lovely wallpapers to co-ordinate. These can all be mixed and matched to create a truly stylish room. If you are interested in seeing these or any other fabrics to select from for your home, please do contact us – Design Focus, 01452 614087, or for more information take a look at our website: http://www.interior-design-focus.co.uk/